Faceoff with Reality

Season 2 of 13 reasons why has a helpline website and a disclaimer that says it will address problems such as substance abuse and suicide.

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Arunima Mazumdar

New Delhi June 8, 2018

ISSUE DATE: June 18, 2018

UPDATED: June 8, 2018 21:21 IST

A still from 13 Reasons Why

When 13 Reasons Why debuted on Netflix last year, critics slammed it for its glamourification of teen suicide and graphic depiction of sexual assault. Yet, it was a smash hit, prompting the makers to try to stay hot and also take responsibility.

Season 2 begins with a video disclaimer from the cast emphasising that the story is fiction, and it deals with sexual assault, substance abuse and suicide. The show now has its helpline website (13ReasonsWhy.info). And the public service announcement-style disclaimer argues that the show can help start a conversation about these very real problems. And so it does.

The plot of Season 2 centres on proving Bryce Walker guilty of raping Hannah Baker, Jessica Davis, and many unidentified others. Instead of killing herself in a self-defeating (but glorified) effort at revenge, Jessica Davis finds the courage to call out her rapist, move on, and relive her high school life. Though Hannah (the suicide victim/ plot driver of Season 1) still appears to "live on" in a series of flashbacks - one reason for the earlier criticism- it no longer seems like the story of how her suicide worked as the perfect revenge.

Season 2 mostly succeeds in depicting the flaws in the justice system (shared in America and India) and how the rich and the powerful get away with just about anything. Bryce Walker suffers, but not as much as he deserves. Overall, the show plays safe, albeit not entirely. The last episode ends on yet another crazy note where Tyler Down is seen getting sexually assaulted by Bryce's bully boy-gang and Tyler picking up the gun.

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